When he’s not serving as the president of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel can be found at a race track or the middle of the desert.

A big motorsports fan, Pavel attended a laundry list of races in 2025. Most of them were in his country such as MotoGP and the NASCAR Euro Series, but his year began abroad when he was in Saudi Arabia for the Dakar Rally. At each event, he had opportunities as a fan like sitting in the race cars and of course watching the action, but he’s also been able to join the media corps as a photographer.

The collection of racing photos he took throughout the year, titled Objektivem Petra Pavla (“Through the Lens of Petr Pavel”), went up for auction on Friday. Proceeds will go toward the foundation run by his wife Eva Pavlová, which focuses on helping single parents, senior citizens, and children.

13 photos are available at a starting price of 3,000 CZK (USD$145.14), each of which will be printed in a 60×40 cm canvas and autographed by Pavel.

In January, the president took a private trip to the Middle East to follow the Dakar Rally. He followed much of the race from a media car and stayed in the bivouac with everyone else, then got to take some pics. The photos he snapped were put on display at Prague’s National Technical Museum in March as part of an exhibition called In the Desert with a Finger on the Trigger.

Four of his photos from Dakar will be up for sale: Mitchel van den Brink’s IVECO PowerStar that finished runner-up in Truck, Han Wei’s Red-Lined HW2025 that retired halfway due to a fire, Giniel de Villiers’ Toyota Hilux IMT EVO from his final race with TGRSA, and fellow countryman David Pabiška’s KTM 450 Rally Replica that placed seventh in Malle Moto.

In May, he was at Autodrom Most for the Superbike World Championship. Two photos from that round are available: an action shot of reigning and eventual champion Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and the celebration by race winner Nicolò Bulega.

MotoGP arrived at Brno Circuit two months after the WorldSBK race. Naturally, Pavel was there too. For auction is a duel between Marco Bezzecchi and Augusto Fernández in the Schwantz corner; Bezzecchi won that battle and finished second.

Three photos come from the NASCAR GP Czech Republic at Autodrom Most in August, each of a different series. The Super Sixties Racing vintage series and FIA European Truck Racing Championship were part of the weekend and represented with pack racing images, while Pavel photographed Sebastiaan Bleekemolen and Martin Doubek competing in the NASCAR Euro Series. Pavel also got to test drive a EuroNASCAR car with Doubek as his guide.

The president returned to the motorcycle realm in September for the FIM Supermoto World Championship round at Autodrom Vysoké Mýto. He took a group shot as the field entered a corner.

In November, Pavel checked out the FMX Gladiator Games at Prague’s O2 Arena and the Meeting of Champions at Autodrom Sosnová. At the latter, he rode alongside rally co-driver Filip Mareš in a Toyota GR Yaris, and that experience was photographed.

“At each of them, he photographed with the enthusiasm of a fan and the calmness of a professional,” reads the auction page description. “The result is moments full of energy, concentration, and speed. Photographs that tell a story and that help.

“Each large-format reproduction in this edition is signed by President Petr Pavel and represents not only an exceptional visual experience, but also a valuable collector’s item. It is a unique connection between the personal passion of the head of state and the world of adrenaline, which is rarely captured so directly.”

The auction can be accessed here. Fesh Fesh, a Czech Dakar team whose truck was christened by Pavel upon reveal and has occasionally visited his residence, also sells a calendar with the same images.

Featured image credit: Fesh Fesh